By Michelle Bombardier on 9/2/2022
This month, The Brown Grand Theatre celebrates its 115th birthday. September 17, 1907, The Brown Grand opened its doors as New York’s Joseph M. Gaites Company presented the musical play The Vanderbilt Cup. The production spent eight months at the Broadway Theatre in New York followed by three months at the Colonial Theatre in Chicago before premiering at The Brown Grand. The Harry Steinberg Orchestra from Topeka accompanied from the orchestra pit. The musical brought to stage the Vanderbilt Cup Races that were popular at the time. It captivated the audience with revolving painted scenery behind two vintage racing cars that created the appearance of speeding along at high speed on stage. Stagehands pulled cables attached to each car to shift their positions as each driver as they took turns taking the lead. The town was a buzz with excitement. It was the first of many traveling theatre shows to take place at The Brown Grand for the growing audiences of Concordia.
Walking up the stairs through the double doors of the theatre and stepping onto the tiled lobby, one can feel the excitement of attending a show at the theatre. Imagining a white gloved usher escorting guests across the foyer and to their seats as the lights glowed in the audience, dressed in their finest, and eager for a night of entertainment as you walk down the carpeted aisles, makes me wonder what it must’ve been like to experience the early days of the Brown Grand. It was known as the most elegant theatre between Kansas City and Denver and, according to the Washington Republican newspaper, outclassed even Topeka! Theatre goers wore full dress suits, opera gowns, and had their carriages awaiting them outside the doors when the shows were over.
To put things into perspective of the time, 1907 in Concordia was bustling. The nation was expecting a prosperous year and optimism was strong in the Midwest. The Nazareth Convent had been built just 5 years prior and the Chapel was completed in 1907. Concordia would be granted $10,000 in just a few short weeks to begin building a Carnegie Library, which now houses the Cloud County Historical Museum. The early 1900’s saw many more large construction projects as well. You can just imagine all seeing projects coming to completion, those in the works, and the excitement that carried seeing the community grow. Travelers came to town on trains from all over. Concordia was a major stop along the railroad. People would get off the train and check into the Baron’s Hotel for the night, many laborers, some seeking employment, and those who were just in town for a show for the evening before traveling back.
Looking out into what was happening in the world
- The Panama Canal was in the process of being built.
- Ellis Island experienced the all-time busiest day of immigration in its operation on April 17th with 11,745 immigrants. This will be the busiest year ever seen at Ellis Island, with 1.1 million immigrants arriving.
- UPS was founded.
- Taxis first began running in NYC
- Katharine Hepburn and John Wayne were born.
- Florenz Ziegfeld staged his first `Follies’ on the roof of a New York theater
- The Cubs win their first World Series.
- The Panic of 1907, which was a run on the banks, forded the New York’s Knickerbocker Trust Company to suspend operations. 2 days later J.P. Morgan along with other Wall Street financiers, create a $25,000,000 pool to invest in the plunging New York Stock Exchange, averting a major American financial crisis and ending the Panic of 1907.
- Oklahoma becomes a state.
- The first electric ball drops on New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
Four years after opening, Colonel Napoleon Bonaparte Brown, who financed and built the theater with his son, Earl, passed away. His son Earl passed 4 months later. Left in the hands of their wives, who had no interest in the theatre, The Brown Grand was soon sold to the city. Unable to handle the financial burden, the city gave it back to the Brown family. By 1925 motion pictures were the new rage and the theatre. Now in the hands of new owners, the Brown Grand became a movie theater, ending years of live theatre for which it was intended.
Growing up, after the restoration, I never knew the Brown Grand as anything other than its original purpose. I attended plays, musical performances, and performed there myself. The Brown Grand was one of my very favorite places to be. It was beautiful inside and out and the acoustics were fantastic! A singer’s dream. I never considered how fortunate I was to have performed there. So many people don’t have theatres of this grandeur as an everyday fixture. I found comfort on that stage over the years, but it never lost its awe walking thorough those doors. Once you walk across that tile lobby floor, you are hit with a feeling of perhaps reverence, but definitely a feeling of admiration and respect. You can feel the decades of incredible talent that have left their marks. You stand on that stage knowing you’re one of so many who stood in that same spot bringing joy, laughter, and even tears to those in the audience. It’s a privilege to be a part of.
As we approach the 115th Birthday Celebration and the preparations have begun, I urge you to stop in for a tour. Melissa Swenson is an incredible asset to the Brown Grand and the community. She gives an incredible tour. If you haven’t had a chance to meet her, be sure to stop in and introduce yourself. We really are so fortunate to have her here. Be sure to attend one of the many events happening this coming season, including the Birthday Bash on September 17th. As you walk up those stairs through the foyer and into your seats, take a look around. Experience the theatre. Acknowledge the rich history of our community and the incredible performances that have taken place here for 115 years. Imagine for a moment what it must’ve been like in 1907. The experience of the theatre is just too great to miss. I’m not sure this community fully comprehends just how impressive the legacy, history, and tradition of the Brown Grand is. It’s not just an event venue. It’s a true theatre, its massive façade a testament to the incredible growth and resilience of Concordia over the years. It is a humbling reminder that despite any difficulty or challenges we face, we can stand tall, hold firm, and overcome anything the world wishes to throw at us. Our community, time and time again over the past 115 years, has bonded together many times over this theatre. Not simply because we wish to be entertained, but because we need to remember who we are, where we came from, and what we’ve persevered through. Every generation for the past 115 years has seen The Brown Grand through different eyes. Perhaps it’s time to see it once again, through new eyes, and introduce it to a new generation who will be entrusted with its care. To be a part of that, even if for a moment in time, is nothing less than phenomenal.
Be sure to join us at The Brown Grand for the 115th Birthday Bash! September 17, 2022. Tickets are on sale now. Contact Melissa Swenson (785) 243-2553. Find out more at www.browngrand.org or stop into the theatre located at 310 W. 6th.
